6/23/08-Late Night Success on St. Clair

The water was pretty calm today as Tim, Kous and I headed down to Windmille Pointe to try some night fishing. A lot of people were at the pier, because of the fireworks downtown most were spectating but a few were fishing. I got really tired of fishing quickly (there was a time where I'd pull a 3.5lb Smallie out of there a night) because I haven't gotten anything there in what feels like weeks. I started out throwing my Rat-L-Trap trying to unskunk it. Had no luck what so ever and switched to a white tube that I bounced up in down in the current...still nothing. I switched to my walleye colored shad rap and zilch. Tim started out throwing a Jointed Shad Rap in a brown crawdad. He pulled out the first fish of the night a 13 and 1/2 smallmouth that barely missed the cutoff for our tournament.

I couldn't buy a bite so I started screwing around and trolled my Heddon Tiny Torpedo around I almost caught a Gar Pike on it, but fornutately I didn't. Right when I was ready to go I headed up the pier to tell my friends the news. I was watching them troll and Kous hooked into a 20inch 2lb 12oz Walleye on a bleeding olive minnow rap. This fish put him in a commanding lead for the tournament this week, because of our doubling system. He now is winning 4lbs 4oz to 1lb. We took the fish home and filleted it, currently its in the freezer getting ready to be cooked up tommorrow. I'm pretty sure I will pan fry it with for either my secret Walleye nuggets or try a new recepie with an Italian spice to it.

The results for today are that the Minnow Rap produces as usual and its another big fish. Its a great buy for anyone looking for a solid big fish crankbait. My impatience definitely got a hold of me today. The fishing at the pier since the thermocline has been terrible and this definitely had an effect on me. I'm really want to catch some big bass and I think I found an area where they may be. I just need to use my raft to get there. I'll probably hit the Milky River tommorrow after I cook Kous' Walleye for him.

Thanks for reading, Bass-Sniper

Basic Texas Rig

The Texas Rig is one of the simplest, yet most effective rigs out there. The rig is set up by simply taking a soft plastic bait (worm, crayfish, minnow) and Bass hook. Use the Bass hook to make a small incision in the beginning of the lure, and carry the hook through and embed it into the middle of the lure (as pictured).

This rig is limited in the type of fish that it produces, but it should be a mainstay in any serious Bass fisherman's repertoire. It is most effective, when fishing for Large Mouth Bass although smaller fish will chase it. The embedded hook makes the rig weedless, allowing your plastic bait to cover area that baits with exposed hooks can not cover, due to foliage. These areas are often, where the larger Bass hide and feed.

Personally, I enjoy fishing the Texas Rig and it is often the first rig I use, when Bass fishing. This rig has produced Bass for me in areas that were considered to have poor Bass fishing conditions. I recommend fishing this rig in areas with high seaweed concentrations, in or around boat wells, and in areas of high underground structure in your favorite local fishing spot. Try to use crayfish plastic lures or the generic Senco Worm, also use colors that match the water color.

My only qualms about the rig are that bigger fish will often ignore this setup, Bass will generally lose interest after a reaction strike, it loses quite a few fish if you don't set the hook hard, the rig loses effectiveness with current. However, to counter current you can apply a split shot weight 6-12 inches away from the hook. The application of this weight system will catch onto weeds, but I use this to get deeper into weed beds (remember to clean off before your next cast). The more conventional way to apply weight to the rig is add a bullet weight to the beginning of your bass hook. This keeps the rig clear of weeds, though personally I don't use this weighting system.

In the past week this rig has gotten me a 17inch 4lb Large Mouth. I go fishing generally once a day in the summer and will use the rigs and lures in my post for a week at a time and post my analysis of the lures here. Tune in next week for the Wacky Rig, another personal favorite of mine.